https://arab.news/933yg
- MPs recommend that having ‘non-consensual intimate images’ should be a criminal act amid plans to also outlaw their creation
- New report says cultural, religious sensitivities should be taken into account when deciding what constitutes ‘intimate’
LONDON: MPs in the UK have proposed making it a criminal offense to possess images of Muslim women not wearing hijabs without their consent.
The suggestion was made in a report by the House of Commons’ women and equalities committee, which said such photos should constitute “non-consensual intimate images.”
The MPs said under current legal definitions, such images include people being partially or fully nude, or engaging in behavior such as sexual activity or using the bathroom.
The report said: “Abuse can also include material that is considered ‘culturally intimate’ for the victim, such as a Muslim woman being pictured without her hijab.”
It added: “Non-consensual intimate image abuse is not always limited to sexually explicit content. For example, in some cultures, countries, or religions, sharing a photograph of someone without their religious clothing — or with their arm around another person — can be disastrous for the victim.”
Creating intimate images without consent, “in circumstances in which an ordinary reasonable person would reasonably expect to be afforded privacy,” is set to be made a criminal offense later this year, but possession will remain legal.
The report concluded that the government “should bring forward amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill to make possession of non-consensual intimate images an offence.”
In November, Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Victims Alex Davies-Jones told the committee that the Law Commission had decided it would be “impossible to craft a definition that suits everyone.”
The committee’s chair, Sarah Owen, said: “Non-consensual intimate image abuse is a deeply personal crime which can have life-changing and life-threatening consequences.
“We welcome the Government’s proposals to make creating non-consensual intimate images an offence, but a legal gap remains.
“The Government should bring forward amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill to make possession as well as the creation … an offence.
“This ensures non-consensual intimate images receives the same legal treatment as child sexual abuse material.”